Eye on Europe

A few bright spots on Europe’s troubled periphery

by Elizabeth Pond | Law & Institutions, Central and Eastern European countries

Even as the future of the European Union's neighborhood remains under threat, a few developments on the EU periphery – in Ukraine, Romania, and Serbia – show that civil society and rule of law are making inroads in post-Communist kleptocracies.

Going Renewable

New records for German renewable energy production

Germany’s intense wind turbine installations in 2014 contributed to record-breaking renewable energy production during last week’s high winter wind storms, when wind and solar resources combined reached the output of forty conventional large power plants.

Russia Policy

Closer EU-EEU ties will not lead to a rapprochement with Russia

The main cause of the conflict between Russia and the West lies in the internal legitimization deficit of Putin’s own system. A closer cooperation with Moscow’s Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) would not only undermine the EU’s values – the Kremlin is simply not interested. A reply to Mark Leonard’s and Ivan Krastev’s “The New European Disorder.”

Eye on Europe

An impending June decision by the EU’s Court of Justice will likely tip the balance between free trade and fundamental rights. Arguments were heard last week in Luxembourg in a privacy rights case lodged by Max Schrems, an Austrian law student, against five international tech giants.